Kit Kat Cake

Everyone loves a Kit Kat bar, especially Bo. We saw a little Kit Kat Cake in the grocery store that he wanted, and I told him I could do WAY better than that. Here it is: super moist chocolate cake with a fudge filling and a smooth, delicious buttercream frosting. And lots (AND LOTS) of Kit Kat pieces!

Let me start off by saying this Kit Kat cake looks like there’s a lot more going on then there really is. Don’t be scared off by it! I actually only have a small handful of cake “pieces” that I use over and over again in different combinations to make different cakes. They’re the recipes I’ve made dozens of times, that never let me down.

This cake came about because I ran into a grocery store last-minute to grab a cake. They had these cute little Kit Kat cakes there and I thought, yep, that’ll do. Bo thought, yep, I’m gonna eat that entire thing myself. Problem was, it wasn’t for him, and we were dropping it off before heading out to dinner. No cake for you (Bo)!

Being the award-winning wife that I am (ok, so I haven’t TECHNICALLY won an award, but I’m certain Bo is working on one for me now), I took it upon myself to make one just for him the very next day. I mean come on, if that isn’t award worthy, I don’t know what is.

The many layers of the Kit Kat cake

Alright, I’m going to break down exactly how I built up this baby. There are three main parts to this: the cake, the filling, and the frosting.

The cake is my go-to chocolate cake. I use this recipe every single time I make any chocolate cake. It’s firm enough to stack multiple layers without sagging, or squishing, or just crumbling while you frost it. But it’s also SUPER moist and tender. It’s seriously the best chocolate cake around!

In-between those layers of delicious chocolate cake lie two layers of a thick and chocolatey fudge frosting with a thin spreading of caramel added in just because I could. I mean COME ON! You just can not go wrong with this combination!

Then we move onto the outside of the Kit Kat cake. Now, a Kit Kat chocolate bar is filled with thin wafer slices and a smooth filling that (surprise, fun fact time) is actually just ground up Kit Kat bars. The ones that don’t meet quality control standards (say, too many air bubbles) are ground up and used as the filling. So I arbitrarily decided on a caramel buttercream because I love caramel, and the cake baker should get to enjoy the fruits of their labour too.

Now, I know that not everyone has a jar of homemade caramel sauce sitting and waiting in their fridge. This is only because I haven’t been able to preach the benefits of this to the world yet.

Gets out soapbox and clears throat…

Everyone really does need to keep a big old mason jar full of homemade caramel sauce in their fridge at all times for the following reasons:

1. It’s delicious and super easy to make.
2. You can whip up a caramel buttercream any time you want without worrying about the extra step of making caramel sauce each time.
3. It’s delicious and super easy to make.
4. Ice cream. No need to say more. Except apple crisp, also amazing on apple crisp.
5. It’s delicious and super easy to make.

Ok, so now that you understand why everyone needs to have a jar of caramel sauce in the fridge, you can also understand how amazing it was to put that sauce in-between the cake layers with the chocolate fudge filling, in the buttercream, and over the top of the cake to drip down the sides. It was also great to just dip my finger in and lick off. After that, all that was left to do was break apart A LOT of Kit Kat bars to pile on top. That’s 3 Kit Kat bars, or maybe 4. I honestly can’t remember if the kids stole one from me to eat while I was making this.

Want to see all the other yummy recipes I made with these “cake pieces”?

I’m not kidding around when I say that this cake is just a blending of my go-to cake basics. To prove it, here are some of my other favourite cakes and recipes that use the same pieces.

My bakery style Oreo cake used the same chocolate cake base with a vanilla buttercream (and lots, and lots of crushed up Oreos). Yes, I realize how epic this is, and I am forever grateful to Sophie for requesting it for her birthday! As one of her FIVE cakes. The girl is the spitting image of her mother when it comes to eating.

Or maybe it was that caramel sauce calling to you? If that’s the case, then you NEED to dig into my salted caramel cake. This is my personal favourite cake. It’s the one I make myself for my birthday every year, and for the kids parties because EVERYONE loves this cake!

And just incase you’re feeling like something a little less cake-y, but still caramel-y, these salted caramel macarons are delicious. Like CRAZY delicious. We’re leaving for Florida in a little over three weeks, and I told Bo yesterday that I was making these for my car snack (we drive). He told me that was a pretty pretentious and posh snack. I pretended I didn’t hear him.

Gimmie a break, gimmie a break, now lets get back to that Kit Kat cake

See what I did there? A total play on the Kit Kat bar commercial? This is the kind of thing that makes me think I’m brilliantly hilarious, and makes Bo roll his eyes at me about eleventy billion times a day. But he loves me. Because I make him things like Kit Kat cakes.

On that delicious note, and by note I mean picture, I’m going to hand you off to the recipe. Make sure you let me know if you make it, or just tell me what your favourite cake combination is. I’m always looking for a new one! I mean, you can never have too much cake!

Kit Kat Cake

Yield: 3 layer 8" cake

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Additional Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes

You're favourite chocolate bar turned into your new favourite cake! You can easily switch up the chocolate bar used on top too (Snickers would be amazing too!)

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Ingredients

Chocolate Cake

• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups brewed espresso, hot
• 3/4 cup canola oil (or vegetable)
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 cups flour (all purpose)
• 3 cups white sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt

Chocolate Fudge Filling

• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate (chips, or chocolate bars chopped up)
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Salted Caramel Sauce

• 2 cups White Sugar
• 8 Tablespoons Salted Butter, Softened, Cut Into Tablespoon Sized Pieces
• 1 cup Heavy Cream
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan Salt (or table salt), to taste

Salted Caramel Buttercream

• 4 large egg whites, room temperature
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 lb butter, cut into 1" chunks, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup of caramel sauce, room temperature

Instructions

Chocolate Cake

1. Preheat your oven to 350ºF (use the convection setting if you have it, and spread your racks apart to accommodate three 8" baking pans). Spray your pans with a non-stick baking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, espresso, oil, and vanilla. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of your stand mixer, whisk together by hand the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the wet ingredients to the bowl and beat on medium-low speed for two minutes.
4. Divide the batter evenly between the three pans. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
5. Let cool in the pans for ten minutes, then turn them out onto wire racks to cool completely.
6. While the cakes are cooling, make the fillings and frostings.

Chocolate Fudge Filling

1. Put the chocolate and cream in a microwave safe bowl and heat in 30 second increments, stirring after each one, until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth and uniform. You make need to rewarm just slightly just before spreading it onto the cake (this just makes it a bit easier to handle, but make sure it isn't runny).

Salted Caramel Sauce

1. Add the sugar to a large pot set over medium-high heat. Gently stir until the sugar has melted, then stop stirring.
2. Let it boil, without touching, until the caramel reaches an amber colour, and registers 320ºF on a candy or instant read thermometer. It will have a nice amber colour, but should not smell burnt at all.
3. As soon as it reaches 320ºF remove from the heat and whisk in the butter until completely melted and combined.
4. Slowly pour in the heavy cream, in a thin stream, while whisking vigorously. Stir in the salt, and pour into a Pyrex glass measuring cup to cool completely before using.
5. This can be made ahead and stored in the fridge. If you do this, simply return it to room temperature before using for in the buttercream and spreading on the cake layers.
6. 
   

Salted Caramel Buttercream

1. Put about 2" of water into the a medium sauce pan and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. Put the egg whites and sugar into a large heatproof bowl (I use a metal one), and set it over the boiling water. The bowl will become very hot so use an oven mitt to hold onto it. Whisk until hot to the touch, and the sugar has completely dissolved. I test it by rubbing a drop between my fingers, or checking the temperature with an instant read thermometer (you want it to reach 140ºF).
3. Immediately pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer (you can do it with a hand mixer, but it's easier with a stand mixer). Leave the mixer running on medium-high speed for 8 minutes. The sides of the bowl need to be cool to the touch so that the butter doesn't melt, and the mixture will have doubled in volume and be nice and glossy looking.
4. Turn the mixer down to medium speed, and add the butter two pieces at a time. Once all the butter has been added, continue to mix on medium-high for two minutes, until it's light and fluffy.
5. Scrap down the sides of the bowl, and add the vanilla and caramel sauce. Beat for 2 more minutes.
6. Use the buttercream right away, or store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. Bring to room temperature before trying to use.

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